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“Adobe CS6 Volume and Site Licensing Now Available for Multi-User”
Adobe CS6 Volume / Site Licenses Now Available for Multiple Users
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Can you share with me the steps of how to set up a flexible or floating license scheme across a network?
I have a customer who is in need of documents on how to install floating license.
Hi Ash, thanks for your question. A flexible license for CS5 or CS5.5 is possible, but is only available for Education… Some call it a network or shareable license but Adobe calls it a “concurrent license.”
See the page “Concurrency policy” for more details on the terms and how to do it.
Hello. I have CS5 and would like to purchase just one additional license so that I can activate it on my third computer, one user. Is this possible? I’m pretty confused by their volume website. Been trying to find this info there for a while.
thanks!
Greetings Jonathan, running Creative Suite 5 on a third computer with a regular license wouldn’t be possible. The maximum number of computers you can activate (run) the software on is two, for a single user – though it is possible to move your activations between systems.
But, you could upgrade to a CS5 volume license, and then install and activate on up to four computers (Windows or Mac) for up to two users.
You could also just purchase a separate additional retail product (similar to what you already have but with a different serial number) and run it separately from your current installations.
Hope that covers it for you!
What is the cost for a 10 site license for CS5 Design Standard?
Thanks,
Peg
Welcome Peg, thank you for your question. It depends a bit on which geography you’re in, whether full or upgrade, and if you want to download the software or have it delivered on disc…
The easiest this is just to go to Adobe’s Instant Quote Calculator and get the price for exactly what you want. Then feel free to post back with any questions, thanks!
Hi,
I have a client who plans to run a Windows 7 workstation with 7 remote desktop users. The 7 remote desktop users are connected with a special device that does “Desktop Virtualization” (NOT A COMPUTER) via Ethernet to the workstation. Is it sufficient/LEGAL to purchase 1 Adobe CS5 license? How many licenses is required for all of them to use Adobe CS5 components (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc) simultaneously?
Thank you.
Vicky
Hey there Vicky, good question. The answer is no, almost certainly not – because even for Adobe volume/business licenses, it’s one seat needed for each user. The same single-user restrictions apply here – so multiple users will need multiple seats, and the software will not permit more than two activated workstations anyway (even if virtualized).
So in your case, you’re likely to need 7 volume license seats for your 7 concurrent users, but your maintenance will be easier and pricing lower… That’s our take, but Adobe makes the rules so please do confirm it with them.
Hope this helps!
Hello,
I have CS5 Master Collection (Edu, Mac), since I will soon buy a desktop PC in addition to my laptop I was wondering if I have to deactivate one and activate the other installation each time I’m changing computers.
Thanks in advance!
Henry S.
Hello Henry, if you have a volume license (as described above), then you can switch between Windows and Mac with the same software.
If not, if you have a regular copy of the educational or retail version, then if you’d like to move your product between PC and native Mac, you would need to do what’s called an Adobe “crossgrade”…
Otherwise, it’s generally possible to install your applications on up to two of your own computers.
Hope this answers your questions – if not, please post back!
We have 3 licenses for Adobe CS5. One of our 3 users would like to install a second copy on her personal computer at home. The idea being that she could edit files at home I believe.
Is it permissible to install one copy at work and a second copy (using the same license) on her personal computer at home?
Thanks
Hi Alan, thanks for your comment. That would probably work, depending on her intended use of it…
For more information, please see this page on Adobe licenses for business, about halfway down.
We are running CS3 from our laptops (three licences). Recently I have upgraded to a 27″ iMAC and loaded the software. However it requires me to deactivate on the laptop. Can CS3 load on a second computer without acquiring another licence, and if so how do I activate it on the second computer?
Greetings Eduard, each of your purchased seats should be able to run on up to two of your systems…
You may want to follow our instructions for how to move an Adobe license from one machine to another.
But if for some reason you still have no luck, then you might need to contact Adobe Customer Service to have your product licensing counts reset, and then you can activate again how and where you want.
I am planning to buy creative suite 5.5 web premium and my usage is up to 4 users. Instead of buying 4 different licenses, if I go with volume license option, the purchase cost will reduce or it would be same ?
And I didn’t get proper info from the Adobe site.
Hey there Prathab, you definitely want to go with a volume license… It’s actually less expensive – you can get a discount depending on how many copies you buy. Plus you get all of the additional benefits listed in the article above.
Basically, if you have more than one user (buying more than one copy of the software), there’s no reason not to do it.
Check the volume pricing with Adobe’s Instant Quote Calculator, or read more about it here:
Get Flexible CS5 Volume Licensing with Adobe’s “Business” Program
Hope this helps!
@ProDesignTools
Thanks. I have noted three options of volume license are TLP, CLP, EA. Will you suggest to me, which one is less cost for my requirement?
And the EA minimum discount purchase is 100 units. But my requirement is up to 4 users.
Yes, sure Prathab. TLP (Transactional Licensing Program) is definitely what you want. That’s for small and medium-sized purchases (or businesses).
With TLP, you can even buy just one copy (or four copies) instantly in the online Volume/Business Store with a credit card, and you don’t actually have to be a business.
The software can be downloaded right away and/or delivered on disc, and you can run it on both Windows and Mac OS.
The other programs (CLP and EA) are for many more seats, as you noticed – so you needn’t be concerned with those.
Thanks. I am in final step with the TLP option and purchasing the product through a local reseller is benefit for us or better to go for online purchase? Because I am from India and not able to find any a direct Adobe store to make an enquiry.
If you can go direct to Adobe with their online Business store linked above, that’s usually the best and fastest option as you’re cutting out any middleman, while saving time and expense.
That avenue is certainly available in North America (US/Canada/Mexico), all of Europe/UK, Australia & New Zealand, South Africa, and parts of Asia… But it may not be available as an option in all countries, so you have to check.
Hi there,
I really hope you can help me!
I have Production Premium CS5.5, and have used both of the two included licences on two desktops at my home. Therefore I am unable to install anything else on any further machines.
However, I have a laptop that I take to shoot locations, and I need to install OnLocation on that laptop (obviously, seeing as it is a program that is designed to be taken to locations…). I don’t even need OnLocation on the two desktops at home, but the trouble is I am unable to install it on my laptop because both licences are taken. I can’t deactivate a desktop – I need them both running the software.
Is there ANY way of “splitting up” the licence to install “everything but” OnLocation on the two desktops, and then just have OnLocation running on the laptop? Or any other alternatives?
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!
All the best,
Josh.
Welcome Josh, thanks for stopping by with your question… You clearly already know how many computers you can run CS5.5 on. But for what you’re asking with the third system, sorry to say the answer from the Creative Suite FAQ is not going to help out in your particular situation:
Can I split a Creative Suite 5.5 edition across multiple users or computers?
Your only option really would be to buy another license for the third machine, for whatever you need to run on it.
I was curious if you offered any kind of floating licenses?
We are in the process of modifying our local intranet for our business and we have purchased two copies of the CS4 Creative Suites, but we only use half of the suites for each copy (One person uses the website half, the other uses the photoshopping capabilities).
We are attempting to delegate some work of the redesign internally, and it would be easiest with one or two floating licenses. Is this possible?
Thanks for your question Brian, and it’s a very good one.
Ordinarily, you cannot split and use different applications of Adobe CS5 software across more than two computers. Even so, each license is for a single user only. See:
How Many Machines Can I Install or Run Adobe Products On?
You can buy an Adobe Volume License that gets you more seats… but the same restrictions apply on splitting usage between systems or users.
The only type of Floating License setup that Adobe offers is for Educational customers only – as outlined in Adobe’s “Concurrency Policy.”
On the whole, you can find out more about running Creative Suite with multiple users here:
How to Run Multiple User or Computer Licenses with Adobe Software
Hope that helps!
I have a desktop with a volume license. My understanding is that it would be OK for me to put the software on my laptop for when I am working away from my desk. In order to do that, I could download a 30-day trial of CS5.5 and then convert it into the full version by putting in the key. Is that correct? If so, where do I find my key and is that different from the serial number? Is some kind of password required? Thanks!
Yes J, this is absolutely possible – you personally can install one license of CS5.5 on up to two different machines… This applies even for volume licenses.
And yes, you can simply download the free trial (same product and operating system) and then enter your valid purchased serial number to activate it permanently.
Actually, with an Adobe volume license you get two serial numbers – one for each platform – so you can conceivably install on either/both PC or Mac.
Lastly, yes – a license key is the same thing as a SN – and you can usually find it on your discs or in the email Adobe sent you when you purchased the product. For volume licenses (only), there’s also the Adobe Licensing Web Site that you should also have access to.
If all else fails and you can’t find your serial, use this technique on your existing installation.
Good luck and if you have any further questions, just post back.
Thanks for the quick response! Unfortunately, I found some contradictory information since I wrote to you: http://printplanet.com/forums/adobe/23046-cs5-eula-volume-licensing
There’s a comment from Adobe Customer Care which says, “Retail licenses allow you to install on 2 computers. 4 seat volume lic is just that 4 seats=4 computers”
What do you make of that? Is this Ed person from Adobe just wrong? When you think about it, if all you need to install the software on another computer is the serial number (which I understand is the same number for everyone under the license) what’s stopping one user from putting it on multiple computers since Adobe doesn’t seem to have a way to keep track of two copies/user? It seems like they should limit installs to administrators with a password or something.
The reason I’m asking so many questions instead of just trying the installation is because the laptop hasn’t been purchased yet and it might not make sense to buy it unless the software can be added. Thanks!
Well, don’t know about that information because it says very plainly in Adobe’s Knowledgebase that volume licensees can install and use the software on one secondary computer.
We have also read over Adobe’s EULA (End-User Licensing Agreement) 100 times and have never seen anything in there otherwise… In fact, if you read Section 2.6, it explicitly mentions such secondary use…
Volume licenses have the additional advantage of being able to run on both operating systems (Windows and Mac OS).
See How Many Computers Can You Run Adobe Software On? for more background. And feel free to correct the poster on that other thread, with a link back here.
Hope this helps!
Hi again,
(Follow-up from my first comment posted on 1st Feb)
This dilemma is still bugging me and I’ve had a bit of a brainwave that I’m hoping you’ll tell me will be possible!
Say I have one licence (i.e. that allows me to use the software on two machines). However, I have three machines that I want to use the software on. The third machine is a laptop that I need to take to shoot locations. Now, I understand you can de-activate software without uninstalling it, meaning that it would “free-up” one of the licences. If, in theory, I had the software installed on my third machine (the laptop), could I then input the licence key into it and take it with me to shoot locations? I can’t see why it wouldn’t work – although the software is installed on three machines, there are only ever two “activated” machines, so there’s no problem. I mean, I would be away from the other two machines anyway and just have my laptop, so there would be no need to even have any of the other two machines activated! When I get back, I can then de-activate the laptop, and re-activate whichever machine was de-activated.
In essence – can you have the software installed on three machines, but only have two of them activated? And when you want to use the third machine, you can de-activate one of the other machines to “free-up” the licence, allowing you to use that third machine?
Many thanks!
Yes Josh, you can do this. The reason we didn’t suggest it in our original reply was because you said, “I can’t deactivate a desktop – I need them both running the software”…
But if you want to play “activation roulette” between several machines when you’re on the move, you can. Adobe used to have a hard limit on the total number of deactivations you could ever do, but they say that is now removed.
So if that’s what you want to try, see this article for how to properly deactivate it in that case.
Does that answer your question or solve your problem?
how much does it cost to have a 5-user license added to my work group?
right now i have adobe CS5 DVD pack for 2 users working on 2 macs. however i’ve used it for an additional 5 macs now, with the CS5 on them with 30 days trial countdown
Hi Murthada, that depends on mostly on your geography and which CS5 product you want to determine the price it would be… Usually the more licenses you buy, the bigger the discount. Your best bet is to go to Adobe’s Business Store in your region and enter what you need.
Or just check Adobe’s Instant Quote Calculator to get the price for exactly what you want. Then feel free to post back with any questions!
PS – Note that all purchases of Creative Suite 5 now will get a free upgrade to CS6 when it comes out.
“The product pricing is lower, the more copies you buy.”
I’ve spent hours researching, and so far this seems incorrect. You do not get discounted pricing via Adobe’s Business Store or the TLP program.
The TLP program has 2 price levels, and both are identical to the retail price. The quote calculator does not show pricing, only how many points you’ll get for your purchase and which level you’ll get to. Since $1 = 1 point and level2 = level1, the calculator seems fairly useless.
The answer what can you DO with TLP points seems like the world’s best-kept secret. There’s nothing online (try searching for “TLP points redemption”), Adobe’s online chat didn’t know and referred me to CSR, CSR didn’t know, the CSR’s manager didn’t know, and sent me over to Adobe’s “Volume Sales Department” where I gave up after waiting on the line for 15 minutes. What’s the direct phone number for Adobe’s “Volume Sales Department”? Who knows?
So maybe CLP saves money, but that’s a whole different beast.
Welcome Drew, sorry for the confusion. Adobe made a change in the volume licensing program this week with the release of Creative Suite 6… They are no longer offering discounts with TLP (the easy and direct option that anybody can use as described above).
So that statement was true before but is no longer – and we apologize it wasn’t removed earlier for the CS6 revision of this article. As for the TLP points – the more points you earned, the greater your discount level, so that no longer applies either.
But truthfully, the discounts previously available with TLP were never very large – usually less than 5%. So that’s really not why people use the program… The main strengths continue to be the dual-platform licensing for CS6 or CS5, the ability to order the previous version if that’s what your installation requires, the single serial number for all your machines, the flexible license management with the web-based license tool, and the easy online purchasing with no contract or agreement term necessary.
So we regret the oversight but thanks for pointing out the change and getting that cleared up.
I’d like some clarification.
Scenario: I buy CS6. I’m working at home on my desktop computer. I work late into the night on PhotoShop, Illustrator and InDesign. I leave my machine on.
In the morning I throw my laptop into my bag and go to meet the magazine editor and present the InDesign document to him.
I open up my machine and start InDesign and it decides not to run because I’ve left the home machine running?
This seems like a really awful idea to do to small businesses, freelancers and businesses in general.
Hello Johnny, thanks for your comment. A clarifying question here as well: Do you regularly leave your home computer turned on with Adobe programs running when you leave the house? If you do, then it could be a challenge regarding the licensing requirements, if you wish to run the software on a remote laptop at the same time.
Fortunately, this may be rare as it’s the first time anyone has ever posed such a hypothetical here… But it could be solved by turning off your home system or by closing those programs. If necessary, there are many remote desktop control programs you could use for either Windows or Mac OS, should this situation ever arise.
If there’s more than one person using the product in such a circumstance, then that’s exactly what the CS6 volume licenses described here are for. Hope this helps.
So no one on your Adobe Software User Interface and Experience team ever asked this question in a morning standup? That’s very surprising. Adobe is punishing small business owners.
No Johnny, we’re not Adobe so we can’t speak to their internal experience – but in over three years of running this site we’ve never had a reader ask this before or be concerned about punishing.
As mentioned in our earlier response, there are easy practices and free solutions if you’re really worried about such a scenario.
If you’d like to ask Adobe about it directly, please feel free to contact their Customer Support Team.
Hello, I purchased Adobe Production Premium CS5.5 this March and recently upgraded to CS6. Everything is working fine, I just want to know – can I install this licence on two computers, my Home and Work PC?
Kindly guide me about this.
Regards
Yes Piyush, no matter what type of license you have (retail, volume, education), you should be able to install your Adobe product on up to two computers…
For the volume or business licenses, you can install the software on both Windows and Mac OS systems.
Hello ProDesign, Thank you very much for answering my query regarding licencing.
I am using CS6 for my video projects and want to put some general queries and issues realted to Premiere Pro.
1. After applying DeNoiser on audio tracks, modified audio previews very well but after exporting those tracks to WAV, MP3, AVI etc. all high frequencies are gone.
2. I can apply a video effect (e.g. Magic Bullet Cosmo) on all the clips on a video track, but How can I remove that effect in a single command? Is there any method to apply a video effect on a whole video track not on clips. Like in Nuendo (Audio Editing Software) this feature is available.
I don’t know whether you answer these question or not, but this may be helpful for other users.
thanks and regards
Sure Piyush, it’s a little beyond the scope of this particular article, but you should be able to find your answers in Premiere Pro CS6’s online documentation pages…
Look for “CS6 Help PDF” on the main page there if you want to download all the official documentation to your computer as a single PDF manual.
For other helpful materials, check out this set of free CS6 e-books (over 1,000 pages).
Hi,
There is someone I know who buys multiple seats of CS6 Master Collection and sell them off individually. From what I can grasp from the article and comments, you can buy multiple seats but you only get a single serial. Is this correct?
So is buying multiple seats and selling them individually like this person i know legal? If it is legal, are there any transfer of license issues he needs to deal with?
Thanks
LOL, that’s a common line that scammers use when unsuspecting buyers ask how they could sell Adobe software so cheap… But it’s simply not possible or true – so no, it’s not legal (or safe) in any sense. If you want to see for yourself, just ask for an authentic copy of the supposed Adobe volume license, which doesn’t exist.
For more details, check out this related article… (must reading)
But glad you asked that question Bobby, it’s an important one that everyone should watch out for.
Our school just changed to MACS and we need to know about getting licensing for Adobe Photoshop for the MACS – at the present we would have 4 computers but I would like a figure on licensing for MACS for 10, 12, and 15 if possible. I cannot go to the Volume site because it is blocked and I do not see a phone number so if you could let me know a phone number I would be happy to call. Thank you.
That’s odd Kathy, there should be no problem – does this site not work for you? You can get instant quotes etc there, for whatever you want.
Also check out our other more detailed article about Adobe volume licensing.
I want to purchase CS6 Design Standard multiple platforms for work. How many users can install from the 1 copy of multiple platforms? How much would extra licenses cost?
Greetings Kim, thanks for your comments. Each copy that you purchase is for one seat or user – and it can be used on up to two of that user’s computers, just not at the same time.
If you want fast numbers on price then just use Adobe’s Instant Quote Calculator.
Please also see our in-depth Guide to Creative Suite Volume Licensing for more details on those questions.
Adobe software is awesome. It can be difficult to verify the expense for many businesses.
I also agree that the Adobe license agreement can be very technical and expensive either way.
We had to look into this in detail at Universal Web Design before we purchased our package.
Read everything thoroughly and good luck, it is well worth the investment if you’re going to use it a lot like we do.